Cattle-guard.



A. D. MGOOLEMAN.

CATTLE GUARD.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 28, 1909.

1,085,456. Patented Jan. 27, 1914.

2 SHEET S-SHEET 1.

W rf

j/ZZWJ/[ZJWM 1X mm Z g f :32: W MW LDLUMB A PLANDCIRA TON D C A. D. MOGOLEMAN.

CATTLE GUARD.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 28, 1909.

1,085,456. Patented Jan. 27, 1914.

2 SHEBTSSHBET 2.

l 10' J0 7 f Jr J J5 .9 g 2 J & j

o Z i" 13 C J 4 4'9 2 [4 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR D. MOCOLEMAN, OF GILCHRIST, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, OF ONE-HALF TO ROBERT LESWAY, OF GLADSTONE, MICHIGAN, AND ONE-HALF TO ARTHUR T. HOFFMAN, OF ESGANABA, MICHIGAN.

CATTLE-GUARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 27,1914.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR D. McConn- MAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Gilchrist, in the county of Mackinac and State of Michigan, have invented new and useful Improvements in Cattle-Guards, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to cattle guards, and has for its object the provision of a stock guard for railways and of extremely simple construction, light and inexpensive and which will be entirely practical and efficient in every particular.

Another object of the invention is to provide a stock guard or gate, which may be readily applied to the track without necessitating any changes therein.

With the above object in view, and others which will appearas the description progresses, the invention resides in the novel construction and combination of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan view of .the device constructed in accordance with my invention, a portion of the platform being broken away. Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal sectional view illustrating the device in its inoperative position. Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the device in its operative position and the gate raised. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view upon the line 4 -4 of Fig. 3, and looking in the direction of the arrows.

In the accompanying drawings the numeral 1 designates a pair of railway rails and 2 the ties or sleepers to which the rails are secured.

The numeral 3 designates what may be termed the base of the guard. This base 3 may for the sake of lightness and convenience be constructed in the form of a rectangular frame and is adapted to be positioned upon at least three of the ties 2. The longitudinally extending arms of the frame 3 are provided with a pair of aiming ournal boxes 4, within which are journaled the offset trunnion members 5 of an arched rock shaft 6. This rock shaft 6 has its horizontal arm provided with a suitable gate 7 of any desired or preferred constructlon. The frame 3 has its longitudinally extending arms also provided with a transverse shaft 8. Adapted to lie upon theinner transverse bar of the frame 3 and to be connected with the shaft 8 through the medium of suitable eyes 9 is a U-shaped frame 10. This frame 10 has its longitudinal arms projecting beneath the arched horizontal bar 6 of the rock shaft and its end member 12 normally retained upon one of the ties to the rear of that occupied by the rear portion of the base 3, thus allowing a suitable distance between its point of connection with the frame, for a purpose hereinafter to be set forth. The longitudinal bars of the U-shaped member 10 are provided with a plurality of spaced perforations 13 and these perforations are adapted for the reception of suitable securing elements 14 whereby a platform 15 is retained upon the said U-shaped frame. This platform 15 terminates a suitable distance away from the gate 7, as well as the t-runnions 5 of the arched rock shaft and the said platform has its face provided with a plurality of upturned portions or serrations 16, which are adapted to retard the forward movement of an animal treading thereon.

The arched portion of the shaft 6 is adapted to project above the plane of the rail treads and above the adjacent end of the platform when in an inoperative position, so as to act as a buffer for the feet of the animals, and thereby prevent the guard members 7 from being engaged with violent force, as the platform is so arranged that the rear part thereof will remain lowermost under the greater weight of the animal on the platform, the pivot of the platform being so disposed that the guard members 7 will serve to prevent any considerable for ward movement of the head of the animal beyond the pivot with the result that the major portion of the weight of the animals body will be on the rear part of the platform, thereby holding the arched portion of the axle in its uppermost position to serve as a buffer. The end of the platform adj acent to the arched shaft, when in an operative position, is supported nearly on a line with the horizontal plane of the rail treads so that an animal can pass over the rail treads without any great difliculty.

The gate by gravity normally lies in substantially horizontal posit-ion.

The operation of the device is as follows: The weight of the gate 7 together with the arched rock shaft bearing upon the forward extremity of the longitudinal arms of the U-shaped frame 10 normally supports the said frame 10 and the platform 15, carried thereby, at an inclination, retaining the rearward portion and end member 12 of the said frame raised, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings. When a weight such as that of an animal is placed upon the platform, it will be noted that the frame 10 will be swung upon its pivot, the projecting extensions of the said frame 10 will be forced upwardly, thus rotating the arched rock shaft upon its trunnions 5 and bringing the gate 7 to a substantially vertical position, as clearly illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings.

The gate is directly secured to the side of the arch of the shaft next the platform and its lower end thus forms a stop which engages the upper sides of the arms 10 of the platform frame and serves to limit the upward movement of the gate as shown in Fi 3.

Irom the above description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, it will be noted that I have provided an extremely simple and effective device for the.

purpose intended, one which is of a comparatively light construction and which may be readily and easily positioned upon or removed from a track, and while I have illus trated and described the preferred embodiment of the invention, as it now appears to me, it is to be understood that minor details of construction, within the scope of the following claim, may be resorted to if desired.

Having thus fully described the invention what is claimed as new is:

A. cattle guard comprising a base frame arranged to be secured on the ties and between the rails of a railroad track, a platform carried by the base frame and pivotally mounted thereon for vertical rocking movement, said platform having a pair of spaced lever arms projecting longitudinally from one end thereof; a barrier member and an arched shaft to which the same is secured, said arched shaft having cranks at its ends mounted in hearings on the base frame, the arch of said shaft being arranged to directly bear and slide on the lever arms of the platform and the said barrier member being directly secured tothe side of the arch of said shaft next the platform and to engage the lever arms and form a stop to limit the extent of movement of the barrier member and arch shaft when the latter is turned upwardly by the depression of the outer end of theplatform, the said barrier member acting by gravity to turn to a lowered position and raise the outer end of the platform and maintain the latter in normal inoperative position.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ARTHUR D. MGCOLEMAN.

WVitnesses: r

F. L. CAMPBELL, J. WV. I-IIMEs.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

